Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
15-16
vs. No. 1 Ohio
24-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 25 | 23 | 19 | 18 | 1 |
| Ohio | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Women?s Volleyball Falls To No. 1 Ohio In MAC Tournament
November 21, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
TOLEDO, Ohio - - Despite posting a first-set win over No. 1 seed Ohio, the No. 8 seed Ball State women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18) setback to the Bobcats in quarterfinal action of the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo, Ohio.
"I think we came out with a really good game plan," said Ball State head coach Dave Boos. "We were playing at the highest level we could be entering the match, and we gave Ohio quite a fight. I could not be more proud of this team for the effort they showed this afternoon."
With the loss, the Cardinals end the season with a 15-16 overall record. Ohio, which improves to 24-5 on the year with the win, advances to the MAC Tournament semifinals where they will face No. 5 seed Central Michigan who swept No. 4 seed Northern Illinois earlier in the day.
"I have to give Ohio credit, they came out and made adjustments after the break," added Boos. "Ohio is a great team, and you have to be playing your best volleyball to beat them."
The Ball State offense was led by senior Alisha Green (Country Club Hills, Ill./Hillcrest H.S.) who posted a match-best 15 kills in her final match for the Cardinals. She also tallied eight digs and four total blocks. Fellow senior Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) added 10 kills, seven digs and two blocks in the contest.
Sophomore setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) tallied her seventh double-double of the year with 36 assists and 11 digs. BSU junior libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) led all players with a match-high 13 digs.
Reigning MAC Player of the Year Ellen Herman paced the Bobcats' offense with 13 kills, while Meghan Simons added 11 and Katie Post scored 10. On the defensive side, Sarah Petrulis and Herman tied for team-high honors with 12 digs.
Overall, the Bobcats held a .203 (54-24-138) to .164 (46-25-128) attacking advantage in the match, while BSU scored a 53 to 53 lead in digs and a nine to eight edge in total blocks.
Led by First Team All-MAC selection Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S.) the Ball State block took early control of the opening set, as a pair of blocks helped the Cardinals pull out to a 6-3 edge. Ohio worked its way back into the frame, tying the set at seven off back-to-back kills from Sue Jacobi.
With the score tied at nine, Breivogel blasted two markers of her own as BSU regained its two-point lead. A block from Ohio's Simons and Michelle Jantsch and a Cardinals' service error followed, knotting the score once again at 11. However, a three-point run from the Cardinals, which included Brandl and Breivogel kills and was capped by a Christie Waters (Muncie, Ind./Burris Laboratory School) service ace, forced an Ohio timeout at 14-11.
Green kept the Ball State lead at three points at the 19-16 mark, with a diving over pass and a solo block on the resulting attack. However, the Bobcats responded with a 5-1 run to take its first lead since the opening point with a Jantsch service ace off the net tape.
Trailing 22-21, the Cardinals used a solo block from Brandl and Breivogel's second ace of the set to force Ohio's second timeout at the 23-22 mark. After the break, the Cardinals posted the final two points of the frame thanks to a kill and solo block from Brandl. The 25-22 opening set win was the Cardinals first set victory against the Bobcats since 2002.
The teams battled to an 8-8 tie to open the second set, before an ace from the Bobcats' libero Petrulis sparked a 6-0 run that gave the No. 1 seed a 14-8 edge and forced Ball State to use both its timeouts.
The Cardinals bounced back, however, as a pair of Ohio attacking errors and kills from Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) and Breivogel helped BSU rally within two at 16-14. After an Ohio break, two BSU errors and a pair of aces from Nicole Staverman helped the Bobcats pull ahead by seven at 21-14.
With the score at 22-15, kills from Brandl and Green cut the gap to five at 22-17. The pair would then combine for back-to-back block assists to bring the Cardinals within three at 22-19. Following Ohio's second timeout of the frame, the Cardinals were able to pull within two at 23-21 thanks to a kill from McGinnis.
Unfortunately, a BSU service error on the next play gave the Bobcats set point at 24-21. Despite kills from Green and Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria H.S.) that made the score 24-23, another costly service error gave Ohio a 25-23 second set victory and evened the match at one set apiece.
Neither team was able to gain control early in a hotly contested third set, as the teams battled to a 16-16 deadlock. Ohio claimed three two-point advantages over the first 32 points, but the Cardinals answered with a pair of points each time.
From there, however, it was a different story as three kills and an ace from Post helped Ohio pull out to a 22-18 lead. A Bobcats' block on the next play led to a BSU timeout at 23-18. An Ohio attack error gave the Cardinals a moment of hope, but the Bobcats ended the frame at 25-19 with kills from Herman and Simons.
Despite three kills from Jantsch, Ball State held an early 4-3 lead in the fourth game, thanks in part to kills from Breivogel and Brandl. Ohio answered with the next three points, to pull ahead 6-4. With the margin still at two, 9-7, three BSU errors pushed the lead to 12-7 and led to a timeout.
Herman added another kill after the break to extend the lead to six at 13-7. The Cardinals would get as close as four points on three occasions, with the last coming at the 18-14 mark. Two kills from Sue Jacobi pushed the lead back to six at 20-14, and from there, Ohio went on to win the frame 25-18 on a Simons kill.
